by Martial Arts Master
Sonic the Hedgehog and all related characters copyrighted by Sega, Archie Comics, and Toon Disney. I am in an extremely foul mood right now, so if this story's too depressing, that's the whole point. I'm using my bad mood as inspiration for this story. It's the first time in my life I've ever used my emotions as inspiriation, and the effect I'm hoping to create is to give you readers an idea of what Robotnik is like. Now read the story already!
***
It was nighttime, Robotnik was in a good mood. A very good mood.
Lots of Mobians had been roboticized today.
The sounds of their screams as they realized that they were being turned into robots and helpless to do anything about it were music to Robotnik's ears.
He loved to watch them suffer.
It was like a marvelous symphony to him, a marvelous symphony which only evil people like him could appreciate.
That was part of the reason he'd taken over Mobius.
Only a supreme dictator would have the power to create this marvelous symphony.
And Robotnik had that power.
And Robotnik's Swatbots were even now capturing more Mobians, more helpless citizens to turn into robots.
Robotnik didn't care about anyone else.
To him, no one else mattered.
He couldn't possibly know what anyone else thought, so in his opinion, it was pointless to care.
He cared only about himself, and he admitted it.
Oh yes, Robotnik was in a very good mood.
What made it even better was that those pesky Freedom Fighters hadn't bothered him all day.
Maybe they were taking a vacation, or maybe whatever plan they had would have to wait until the next day to execute. Heck, maybe they were all asleep!
Robotnik didn't care. As long as that pesky hedgehog and his pesky friends didn't bother him, his day would continue to be good.
Robotnik decided to check on his Swatbots.
He pressed a button next to a monitor, and the monitor showed him one of his groups of Swatbots.
They were of course hard-pressed to find more Mobians.
After all, Robotnik had already roboticized so many.
But somehow these Swatbots had managed to capture a poor, helpless little bunny.
The bunny reminded him of Bunnie Rabbot.
However, this bunny's legs and right arm weren't metallic.
Robotnik went to the room with the Roboticizer, waiting for his Swatbots. He had decided to watch this bunny be roboticized personally. It made him so much happier to witness it then to simply learn that it had happened.
Robotnik didn't have to wait long.
His Swatbots came in, carrying the bunny.
They put the bunny in the roboticizer, closing the glass tube so she couldn't get out.
"You creep! Let me go!" the bunny said.
Judging by the bunny's voice, Robotnik figured out this was a female. And a child, at that.
Robotnik didn't even bother to ask this bunny's name. After all, to Robotnik, she was just another helpless victim to be roboticized at his will.
"Now why would I want to do that?" Robotnik asked rhetorically. "If I did that, word would get out that I've gone soft."
"You could never go soft," the bunny said bitterly. She said this with false bravado, but Robotnik could tell it was false because she was trembling. "You're a heartless meanie!"
"'Meanie'? Now I'm sure you could tell me a better insult than 'meanie'," Robotnik said.
"I'd swear at you, but nobody taught me any swear words!" the bunny retorted.
"Why would they? After all, you're just a helpless little child," Robotnik said, chuckling. He placed the emphasis on the words "helpless little child".
"Wait! Those who are condemned get a last request!" the bunny said, obviously trying to stall.
"Oh, but you aren't condemned," Robotnik said. "You'll get to be a robot, and robots live a lot longer than those of the flesh. And you'll have the honor of serving the supreme dictator! So I wouldn't call you 'condemned', so you don't get a last request."
"But...but..." the bunny child stammered, still trying to delay her fate.
"No 'buts', dear," Robotnik said.
"Can't I at least see my parents before I go?" the bunny asked.
Robotnik had to admire her persistance, if nothing else. Her fate was inevitable, and she was obviously terrified, but she was still trying to delay until something could save her.
"Unfortunately we weren't able to capture your parents," Robotnik said. "I wonder why. Maybe they abandonded you!"
"No! That's not true!" the bunny said, but Robotnik could see doubt in her eyes.
Personally Robotnik had no idea what happened to the bunny's parents, and he didn't care.
"Oh, maybe it is! Maybe your parents decided to save themselves instead of you!" Robotnik said, chortling.
"That's not true! That's not true!" the bunny repeated, trying harder to convince herself of this than Robotnik.
"In any case, no one is here to save you, not even the Freedom Fighters," Robotniks said. "I don't know where they are, but they certainly aren't going to bother taking time off from whatever they're doing just to save you!"
Robotnik was really enjoying this. He was mentally torturing the little bunny, and he was enjoying it.
It was so...delicious...to see his victims' emotional torture before they were roboticized.
Robotnik knew that those who were, in Robotnik's opinion, "beneath" him, would probably call him "troubled" at best and "sicko" at worst if they knew his thoughts.
There was an exception, of course.
Like the old saying goes, "There's an exception to every rule."
Snively, Robotnik's nephew, was one of those Robotnik thought was "beneath" him.
But Snively never insulted Robotnik, save that one time where Snively had called him a "scum-sucking bottom dweller", and even then, Snively hadn't seem fully aware of himself at the time.
Robotnik snapped out of his thoughts to see the bunny with a hopeful smile on her face.
Apparently she had thought that Robotnik would be distracted with his thoughts long enough for someone to arrive and rescue her.
But Robotnik was done thinking now.
"And now, my dear, it's time for you to be roboticized," Robotnik said.
That wiped the smile off the bunny's face.
As one of the Swatbots prepared to throw the switch, the bunny tried one last desperate act to save herself.
"Remember the 'Christmas Carol' story?" she asked Robotnik. "If you do this you'll be visited by some ghosts, and then your conscience will make you de-roboticize me!"
"Two things," Robotnik said. "First off, it's impossible to de-roboticize robots, and second off, that has got to be the most idiotic and desperate self-preservation tactic I have ever seen!"
With that, Robotnik called to the Swatbot, "Throw the switch!"
The Swatbot threw the switch.
The roboticizer began to glow.
"No!" the bunny screamed. "NOOOOOOO!"
"YES!" Robotnik shouted.
The bunny's screams continued as her flesh was slowly turned to metal.
During the process, Robotnik enjoyed the sight.
It was like a visual masterpiece to him.
"Ah, don't you just love it?" Robotnik asked another of his Swatbots as the bunny was being roboticized. "The sweet sight of flesh being converted to metal without a hint of damage? The sweet sight of a Mobian's spirit slowly being replaced by the mindless subservience of a robot? Don't you just love it?"
"Yes, sir," the robot said in its monotone voice. Since Swatbots had no emotions, of course, it didn't feel any pleasure or pain at the sight. But, as Robotnik had programmed it, it always agreed with Robotnik.
Finally the process was finished as the last of the bunny's screams died out.
Robotnik sighed happily.
In his opinion, no pleasure could ever replace the pleasure of watching the suffering of the helpless.
Robotnik's good mood got even better.
The End
E-mail all questions and comments to bleifer@msn.com.